Three Campers

All three kids are attending a camp this week. Paul took the boys to PMBC on Sunday afternoon. It's the first time I've not been present when any of our kids have been dropped off at camp. I always take a picture of each child with their counselor. I'll have to wait until Saturday morning to do that. Matt is Ian's counselor, and Caleb is Oliver's. I didn't accompany them on Sunday because our church had an outdoor baptismal service at 4pm, and I had volunteered to serve food from 5-6pm. It has been beastly hot out the past three days - meaning the high's have been close to 100 degrees WITH humidity. The temps are supposed to drop significantly tomorrow so I'm waiting until then to mow the lawn. Serving hot dogs for an hour in that heat was a bit more than my body could handle. I hung out inside the church (yay for air conditioning) for awhile and then asked our neighbor who was also at the event if they would mind taking Nadia home after the fireworks were over later that night. Thankfully they didn't mind doing that. I put a couple of notes in each of their suitcases, and I've been emailing the boys once a day. They print out the emails and deliver them to the campers at dinner. I can't wait to hear all about their week on Saturday morning! I'm missing my boys, but I loved camp as a child and hope they are both having an awesome week.

Nadia's two week theatre camp started on Monday. They are meeting outside at a playground, but thankfully they can use a covered pavilion which provides shade. The camp lasts from 1-5pm, and they are working on a production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Nadia is one of the dwarfs. Milo is thankful that I have been coming home during her camp. Nadia was surprised on Monday that I had Milo with me when I picked her up. I took her swimming on Monday and Tuesday evening, but tonight we're having dinner at Red Robin and shopping instead. I've tried to make this week special partially as a continuation of her birthday celebration and also since it's a "girl's week" for us while the boys are at camp. Her birthday celebration began on June 23 with the trip to Montage Mountain water park and the trampoline park with a friend. On her actual birthday (24th) we had dinner at Bonanza and she opened her gifts. Nadia had her annual physical on the 25th; our teenager is currently 5ft 1.75 inches tall. She was grateful it didn't involve any shots. I'm thankful that's the only time she goes to the pediatrician. She ate her birthday donuts and got to spend time with her cousins on the 25th, and that evening we served her birthday brownies and cupcakes from Aunt Millie. She picked red raspberries, went white water rafting, and had dinner in Jim Thorpe (using a gift card) with some cousins on the 26th. We didn't do anything birthday related on Sunday. On Monday I took her to Sweet Frog on the way to theatre camp for frozen yogurt. Yesterday I took her to lunch at Olive Garden. She had ziti al Forno, salad, and breadsticks; I had salad, breadsticks, and pasta fagioli soup.  Last night Jill, Faith, and Grace met us at our pool. We brought pizza. The girls ate and swam for about two hours. I'm not sure how late they stayed up, but we heard a lot of laughter after we went to bed. Faith's mom is picking her up around 11:00, and I'm taking the other two girls home on our way to theatre camp. I think the last birthday treat will be a hot chocolate from Dunkin tomorrow. We watched "I Still Believe" on Monday night, we're going to watch the newest episode of Chosen tomorrow night, and we're going to watch "I Can Only Imagine" tomorrow night. 

Because the boys are away, Paul and I moved the guinea pig cage to Ian's room on Sunday night so that Milo could sleep in Nadia's room. Last night Milo slept in our room since there were four girls sleeping in Nadia's room. Between the girls' laughter and Milo, I definitely didn't get a good night's sleep. I'm thankful he'll be sleeping in Nadia's room again the next three nights. We'll move the guinea pigs back to her room on Saturday as Milo can resume sleeping in Ian's room that day. Speaking of Milo, he turned 9 months old today which for a Bichon Frise means he's now considered to be an adult. The kids insist he will always be their puppy no matter how old he is. He still has accidents now and then which is rather frustrating. He peed in Nadia's room yesterday morning, for example. He still hates it when we leave him alone in his crate, but that's happening more often lately and he's gone as long as almost 9 hours in the crate without an accident. 

White Water and Red Raspberries

Yesterday the kids had several first time experiences. On Friday afternoon Yvonne and six of her kids arrived at our house. The kids played here, we had dinner, and then we hung out at the swimming pool for a couple of hours. Five of her kids (all who were there except for Wesley) took and passed the swimming test so they could go off the diving board. Yesterday morning the kids were up bright and early. Paul took Ian, Joel, Nadia, Nathan, and Joshua to the berry farm. They could have picked strawberries, blueberries, red raspberries, and/or black raspberries. They picked a little shy of three pounds of red raspberries. We've picked blueberries and strawberries multiple times over the years, but we've never picked raspberries before. Nadia loves raspberries, and I don't usually buy them because they are so expensive compared to other fruits. I've had picking raspberries on our summer bucket list multiple times in the past, but we never actually did it until this summer. I gave Paul my phone so that he could take pictures of the kids picking raspberries, but he didn't take any pictures. I was at home packing our lunches and getting ready for our white water rafting outing.

Around 10:00 Paul and I took Nadia, Ian, Oliver, Joel, Nathan, and Joshua to a boat launch site about 90 minutes from our house. We arrived around 11:45. We were supposed to board the vans at 12:00. Jenna, Andrew, and Toby had a very hard time finding the launch site. The drivers waited until a little after 12:15. Thankfully they parked and ran over to the vans just as we were pulling out of the parking lot. Had they been one minute later, they would have missed the trip. The vans took us to Jim Thorpe where we received our paddles and got into our rafts. The rafts could hold up to 8 adults or up to 10 people if some of the passengers were children. We had eleven people in our group which meant we needed to use two rafts. For the first half of the trip, Joel and Ian were in the raft with Paul and I, and the other seven were in another raft. For the second half, Joshua and Oliver were in our raft instead of Joel and Ian. Oliver also spent a little bit of time in the kayak with one of the guides. It was the first time that Joel, Paul, Ian, Oliver, and Nadia went white water rafting. I hadn't gone in almost 30 years. It's an expensive type of experience, but I thought it would help make Nadia's 13th birthday special. At the time we planned this outing, I didn't know we're also probably going to to white water rafting in Oklahoma City in September. Thankfully that white water rafting trip isn't as expensive. The kids had a good time. It was a dam release weekend on the Lehigh River which means the rapids are supposed to be up to class three. I was expecting the rapids to be more intense than they were, but it was a good first experience for the kids. 

After we changed clothes and someone jumped Jenna's car battery, we drove back to Jim Thorpe. Paul had been given a gift card at Christmas for a hotel in Jim Thorpe. We used the gift card at the restaurant at the hotel to pay for dinner for our group of eleven. The Towfighis and Toby then headed back to Maryland, and we drove back home. Before we went to bed, we watched the pilot episode of the Mysterious Benedict Society on Disney+. We had enjoyed listening to all the books in that series previously. There will be a total of eight episodes this summer. The first two episodes followed the book very closely. 

We don't typically drive to the Poconos that often, but in a span of eleven days we'll have headed there four times. I took the kids and Pop Pop there on Wednesday for the water park and trampoline park, we went white water rafting yesterday, Paul is taking the boys to overnight camp in the Poconos this afternoon, and I'll be picking the boys back up on Saturday morning. Nadia begins theatre camp tomorrow afternoon. The director is holding auditions this evening, but she gave the option for submitting a monologue by video if you can't make the audition, and Nadia and I plan to be at church this evening for an outdoor event that includes baptisms, food, and fireworks. Paul will have dinner and chapel with the boys at camp this evening. 

Thankful Thursday

1. Nadia and the rest of those who traveled from our church to Oklahoma and back had a safe trip. Ironically their biggest delay was on I-80 shortly before they arrived back on Monday evening, so Oliver and I were hanging out in the van for about 90 minutes wishing we had brought books or something else to do to pass the time. I'm very thankful for all the volunteers who worked with the team throughout the year, for the volunteers and parents who drove all the way to OKWU and back, for the friends Nadia made, for all that she learned from the book of Matthew, and for the college scholarship she won.

2. The boys and I enjoyed a one hour production of Alice in Wonderland on Friday night, a program with a biology professor on Saturday afternoon, and a parade in our town on Saturday evening.

3. I've been appreciative of not needing to wear a mask. As of this past Monday, I am considered to be "fully vaccinated" since it's been more than 2 weeks since my second shot. After seeing that more doctors and organizations are now not recommending children receive this vaccine, I'm also grateful we chose not to have Nadia receive the COVID vaccine. I'm also very, very thankful that our state's mask mandate will be completely lifted this weekend. Wahoo! In reality once they said those who are vaccinated didn't have to wear a mask, that pretty much ended the mask mandate because most people stopped wearing them whether or not they were vaccinated. It's so, so much better to take pictures of the kids without shields or face masks on! It's so nice to have thing getting so much closer back to what was normal 16 months ago.

4. Nadia, Ian, Oliver, and Jill had a great time at Montage Mountain water park and Sky Zone trampoline park yesterday. Pop Pop also joined us for the day. The weather has been rather erratic lately. For example, it was in the 90's on Monday and raining and in the 60's on Tuesday. The boys enjoyed swimming for a couple of hours on Monday when it was very warm out. The pool was closed on Tuesday so we stayed home that day. It got up to the low 70's yesterday which wasn't ideal for the water park, but at least it was sunny and a little warmer than Tuesday. Pop Pop and I decided it was too cold to get wet, but the kids had fun getting wet for almost 5 hours. At the trampoline park there favorite part was playing dodgeball with some other kids. 

5. I used a gift card at Subway yesterday for our dinner (Nadia's pick), and we're having dinner at Bonanza tonight (also Nadia's pick). I don't mind doing a bit less cooking than usual.

6. Nadia received a new large bookshelf from my Dad and Margie for her bedroom. She loves it!

7. Paul typically comes home from work sometime between 8-9pm, but he came home at 5:45 last night for Milo's sake. Milo was in the crate for 7+ hours yesterday, which was the longest we had ever left him at home alone. He didn't have any accidents! He was grateful when Paul came home and also very grateful when the rest of us came home four hours later. 

8. Pop Pop came up and met us at church on Sunday and then spent about 6 more hours at our home with us. We are so thankful we can finally spend time with him again after barely seeing him at all for 17 months. He's going to join us on our vacation in September also! When we travel just as a family of five, we only get one hotel room, which means one child (usually Nadia) sleeps on the floor. Since Pop Pop is joining us, I've begun making reservations for two rooms that each have two beds. The boys will share a bed in Pop Pop's room, which means Nadia will get a queen size bed to herself on the trip as she'll stay in the same room with Paul and I. The longest vacation we've ever had before with Paul's parents was 2 weeks long. The kids are very excited about spending 24 days with Pop Pop in September!

9. Paul enjoyed watching a new episode of The Chosen last night. The kids and I will have to watch it in the near future. The boys enjoyed seeing the new Tom & Jerry movie using a free rental from Redbox, and the boys also enjoyed watching Luca, a new movie on Disney+. Tomorrow we're planning on watching the first two episodes of The Mysterious Benedict Society on Disney+. We enjoyed the books. We shall see what we think of the show based on the books.

10. We've really enjoyed using Hoopla through the Philadelphia Free library over the past few years. Unfortunately they are discontinuing offering that service at the end of the month. I went through the list of audiobooks that I had planned for us to listen to in the future through that service. Some were available through Audible's "plus" catalog. We've had an Audible membership at various times though the years, but honestly I've never used their "plus" catalog because the books there that I wanted were also available through the library through either Overdrive or Hoopla. Thankfully through Prime Day they had a special of paying less than half of the usual fee for four months. I signed up not just for the four credits I would receive but also so we could access the plus catalog for four months. I created a list of 20 books from the plus catalog for us to listen to together. We've started on the first Arlo Finch book this week. Also, Audible had ALL of their audio books on sale (between 40-70% off). I bought a bunch of books for us to listen to in the future. Of course Hoopla was free, but if we can't access that any more, I'm thankful to at least get the books for less than $7 each (and some for free through the plus catalog). There are currently 27 books in my Audible wish list. Hopefully over the months and years I'll find ways to get many of them for less than $8 each. We do really enjoy audiobooks!!! 

11. Today the kids participated in a free seven hour event at a campground 12 minutes from our house that included swimming, fishing, and kayaking. It was a sunny day with temps in the 70's which seems perfect for fishing and kayaking! Milo was very happy when I came home after dropping the kids off and picking up donuts for our breakfast tomorrow. I was SO torn as to how to spend these hours at home alone. I considered reading, working on learning more Spanish, working on the videography course, blogging, editing photos from yesterday, weed whacking, working on lesson plans for the next school year, taking Milo for a long walk, or making hotel reservations for our vacation in September. I will have about 20 hours next week to myself while the boys are at overnight camp and when Nadia is at theatre camp for 4 hours a day so the things I didn't get to today hopefully will happen next week. I love my kids ever so much, but I also enjoy the rare moments when I get some time to myself. The downside of the fact this was a drop-off event was I wasn't able to take pictures of the kids kayaking or fishing, but Milo was very happy that I came home!

12. I'm so very thankful that Nadia became part of our family thirteen years ago!!!

We have a teenager!

 

Thirteen years ago today, we became parents. It seems as if it was just yesterday that I was holding my six pound daughter in my arms, and now she's entering her final year of middle school. She's a little over five feet tall. I'm not sure when she'll reach her full height, but she can already wear my shoes. I was absolutely thrilled the day I found out I was expecting a baby in November 2007, and I've been extremely grateful that she has been our daughter for the past thirteen years. I look forward to seeing her grow in the years to come. Her current plan is to serve on Mercy Ships off the coast of Africa for a year after she graduates from high school. I realize her plans could change over the next five years, but I love her heart for serving others even if it would pain me to have her live that far away. We typically haven't done much in terms of birthday celebrations, but I've tried to do more this year because it seems like a big birthday. Yesterday her friend Jill joined us at Montage Mountain water park and Sky Zone trampoline park. Today after the kids are done with their fishing and kayaking program, we're having dinner at Bonanza (her choice). She'll have her breakfast donuts

tomorrow morning as well as a hot chocolate from Dunkin after her annual physical. This Saturday we're celebrating Andrew's 16th birthday and Nadia's 13th birthday with a white water rafting adventure -our family plus five cousins and Jenna's boyfriend. On Monday I'm planning on taking her to Sweet Frog for frozen yogurt, and on Tuesday I'm hoping to have lunch with her and my friend, Cheri, at Olive Garden (also Nadia's request). She can't wait to open her presents this evening. Hopefully she'll have a very special 13th birthday! It's certainly easier to make a birthday special this year than it was in 2020!!

Here are thirteen ways I'd describe Nadia Renee:

1. Loves animals - She has three guinea pigs in her bedroom, and her requests were the main reason I bought Milo in December. Now she's lobbying for us to get a cat, but that isn't going to happen. Her plans might change, but at the moment she hopes to begin working at Warrior Run Petcare Center when she turns sixteen. Since she is contemplating pursuing a career as a dog groomer, I think it's wise for her to have a job like that to see if that is truly something she would enjoy doing in the future.

2. Enjoys musicals - She enjoys singing in choirs and performing in theatre productions. That's naturally been more challenging over the past year due to COVID. If it weren't for Bible quizzing, she would have been in Alice in Wonderland earlier this month. Next month she's going to be in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. In early July she's auditioning to be in Tuck Everlasting in November. She's planning on being in two productions this coming school year through a homeschool co-op, and she will be in a production in August with her brothers at a church in Montoursville.

3. Active in two youth groups - There are times I think we should move closer to where Paul works because he commutes 100 miles a day, but I feel that we should stay in our current house for at least five more years because of Nadia's friendships at church. Although she attends two youth groups, all of her friends are from our church. In many cases she became friends through Bible Bowl. Her closest friends over the last ten months have been Ava, Evanna, Abby, Jill, Faith, Cassidy, Grace, and Bella. In a typical week she attends the youth group during the second service on Sunday morning, youth group on Sunday night, and Bible Bowl followed by youth group on Wednesdays (4:30-8:15pm). 

4. Some people (like my sister Yvonne) only "eat to live" whereas Nadia is more like her Uncle Joe who "live to eat." She has excellent self-control when it comes to stretching out the enjoyment of something she really likes such as a box of Wheat Thin crackers or a bag of SunChips. Some of her favorite foods include crackers, chips, raspberries, blueberries, plums, cherries, grapes, peaches, Swiss cheese, stuffed crust pizza, goulash, rigatoni and meatballs, chicken wraps, grilled cheese, macaroni and cheese, mozzarella sticks, string cheese, tuna noodle, mashed potatoes, applesauce, Motts fruit snacks, chips, eggs, yogurt, peanut butter bars, chocolate covered pretzels, brownies, chocolate chip cookies, soft pretzels, breadsticks, cookie dough ice cream, and strawberries. 

5. Loves listening to Christian contemporary music. She can easily identify the artist when we are listening to a Christian radio station. Her favorite station for years was WGRC, but over the past year she switched to favoring K-Love. Two of her favorite artists at the moment are For King and Country and We are Messengers.

6. All her life she has been very brave. She enjoys zip lining, rock wall climbing, and only one time in her life avoided riding an amusement park ride. She loves riding roller coasters. She's not intimidated to be on a stage. She'd go sky diving or bungee jumping if I'd allow her to.

7. The person she spends the most time with is definitely Ian. In a typical week the person she interacts with the second most would be her cousin Rachel as there are many days that they talk via Zoom while playing Minecraft for as much as 1.75 hours a day. 

8. She loves to read. Her birthday wish list primarily included books and a request for a new bookshelf. Grandpa and Gubba bought her a bookshelf. Paul and I assembled it on Sunday afternoon as a a surprise for her when she came home from Oklahoma. Pop Pop gave her some books, and I also got her some books. For the first time in his life Ian spent some of his own money to buy her a birthday gift. He got her one book. 

9. Although math is definitely not her favorite subject, she has been enjoying doing Sudoku puzzles. She often takes Sudoku puzzles, markers, and adult coloring books with her for longer car rides. She would read in the car if it weren't for the fact she gets carsick. 

10. Although she hasn't been very active over the last year due to COVID and the fact that she aged out of Upward basketball, Nadia really enjoys swimming, skiing, ice skating, and playing nine square in the air at church. 

11. Nadia is definitely a night owl like her father. She enjoys sleeping in and staying up late. Her bedtime is currently 10pm.

12. Nadia's MOST favorite thing to do is spend time in person with her cousins - especially Joshua, Jenna, Andrew, Rachel, and Susie. 

13. She spends more time in her bedroom than anyone else in our family. She rarely makes her bed because she reads in it throughout the day. In her room she often listens to music through her Echo dot, listens to episodes of Adventures in Odyssey, plays with Barbie dolls, and plays with Legos with Ian. She typically writes her pen pal, Stella, about two letters a month. Stella lives in Illinois, is also homeschooled, and also turned 13 today. They met almost 1two years ago through the Adventures in Odyssey club. They are hoping to meet in person for the first time in September. 

Happy Father's Day!

 

To celebrate Father's Day today, the boys made cards for Paul and Pop Pop. Oliver also made a sign for the kitchen. I didn't think ahead enough to have Nadia make cards before she left for Oklahoma. I ordered two games for my Dad, gave Pop Pop cashews and chocolate covered cherries, and gave Paul Juicy Fruit gum, cherry Twizzlers, and a big bag of Middleswarth sour cream and onion chips. Paul's dad met us at church at 10:45 and then came home with us and spent about 6 hours at our home. We called my dad on the way home from church to wish him a Happy Father's Day. We had leftover pizza for lunch, and I made pork chops, corn on the cob, mashed potatoes, and homemade strawberry shortcake for dinner using strawberries that the boys and I had picked last week. Pop Pop played chess and Nintendo Switch games with the boys in the afternoon while Paul and I assembled a bookshelf that my Dad and Margie bought for Nadia's birthday. I felt badly to ask Paul to do that on Father's Day, but since he works six days a week Sunday is the day he has the most time to help us at home, and I thought it would be a great surprise for her when she comes home from Oklahoma. In four days we'll have a teenager! Last year we didn't see Pop Pop at Father's day because of COVID. It's so nice to be able to celebrate holidays with extended family again! 

First Place!!!

Faith (5th grade), Ava (8th grade), Jill (5th grade), and Nadia (7th grade)

I hadn't heard Nadia's voice since about 6:30am on Tuesday, but she called us via her friend Ava's phone this evening! It was great to be able to chat with her some. Usually our church sends more than one team to Nationals, but there were only six kids participating in Bible Bowl this year because of COVID. Only four kids could compete at one time but substitutions were made if a quizzer quizzed out (answered 5 questions correctly during a 12 minute round) and also the last four minutes of each round they made switches so that Nadia and Faith could also participate. Our church's team won first place for the first time in five years! The last time they won first it was also held in Oklahoma. Usually it's there every four years, but it wasn't held last year due to COVID so in terms of years when the competition was actually held, it had been four years since our church came away with first prize. The kids can earn scholarship money based on how well they do on individual tests and with the team, and Nadia was awarded $1,100 in college scholarship funds today!! There were four girls (pictured above) and two boys on the team this year - two 5th graders, two 7th graders, one 8th grader, and one 10th grader. We are very thankful for all the time the coaches put into the team over the course of the year. Next year, Lord willing, Ian and Nadia will be going to South Carolina with the team. They will start their drive back tomorrow and plan to be back at our church by Monday evening. We are again praying for their safety as it's a very long drive from Oklahoma to Pennsylvania!

I took the boys to an outdoor stream exploration led by a biology professor at Bucknell. It was a warm day so it felt good to get our feet wet. Oliver caught several crayfish. We saw a variety of aquatic creatures such as water striders and damselflies. I took a picture of two damselflies while they were mating. I thought it was pretty neat that they make a heart shape when they're mating! It's not the best picture as I should have increased the shutter speed more than I did. I don't normally take pictures of insects.

When the kids were younger we used to take them to two parades in our borough every summer - once in June (fire department's parade) and on July 4th. We have had schedule conflicts for awhile (ex. have been on Long Island on July 4th) plus there weren't any parades last year. This year we can't go to the 4th of July parade because it's being held on July 3rd at 10:00 (since the 4th falls on a Sunday), and I am to pick up the boys from overnight camp at 9:30 that morning, and the camp is 90 minutes from our  house. Oliver didn't even remember being at a parade. I remember when he was young he was so thrilled to see each and every fire engine go by. The parade lasted about 30 minutes today, and the boys both came home with a lot of candy. We finished our day by watching Luca, a new movie on Disney+. 

Carnival

Our summer bucket list always changes throughout the summer. Some things are added and others are deleted. The local fire companies in our area each host a six day carnival. A neighboring borough had theirs last week, and this week our borough is having their carnival. Naturally there weren't any carnivals last year. When Nadia was young we took her to three carnivals that were held within 10 minutes of our home. We used to buy her a hand stamp for the ride, but the price for those has risen quite a bit over the last 10 years. I don't recall exactly how many years it's been since we've attended a carnival, but it's been long enough that Oliver didn't remember what it was like. I've tried to do a few little things this week to make this week special for the boys while Nadia is in Oklahoma, so I agreed to their request to visit the carnival in our town last night. I don't plan on returning for a long time,

but at least now the boys should have a clear picture in their mind as to what a carnival is like. Milo was a big fan of the carnival as he loves to be at places where there are other dogs. I've never been inclined to give the kids money to play a game at a carnival as I realize it would be cheaper to buy the prizes at a store, but I did give Nadia money to play a game at this same carnival once in the past just so she would see that usually you don't get much for what you pay. Last night I paid for Oliver to ride two rides and for Ian to ride one ride and throw darts at a balloon. He was hoping to win a stuffed animal, but naturally that didn't happen. Lesson learned (I hope anyhow). Speaking of the bucket list, we've accomplished almost half of the items so far, and our summer will be half over near the end of this month.

The weather has been much cooler this week, which was great when Oliver and I took a couple of walks with Milo, but the boys didn't swim nearly as much. I got a text from a mom late on Tuesday afternoon saying that they had arrived safely at the university in Oklahoma. I have to say this is one of the very few times in my life I've wished that Nadia already had her own cell phone.

Yesterday I used a coupon for a free DVD rental at Redbox to get Tom & Jerry for the boys to watch. Tonight I'm taking them to see a production of Alice in Wonderland. Nadia would have been in this show if the performance dates didn't conflict with her trip to Oklahoma. She knows a lot of kids who are in the show.

New Pandemic

I don't ever recall a time in my life when I have seen so many "help wanted" or "now hiring" signs all over the place. I've also never seen such large signing bonuses being offered for jobs such as working a a grocery store or in a cafeteria. Last spring most businesses were forced to close. Now some are unable to maintain their usual hours because of a lack of employees. There is a McDonald's in our area that is now closed on Mondays for this reason. DelGrosso's amusement park (which was unable to open at all last year due to COVID) is usually open seven days a week in the summer, but they will be closed on Tuesdays this year due to a lack of employees. The swimming pool where we are members has also had to adjust their hours due a lack of lifeguards, and the list could go on and on. At two different restaurants over the last week (ex. at Dunkin' yesterday) there was a sign on their drive-thru explaining that we should expect a longer wait than usual due to a lack of employees, and both times the sign referred to the lack of  employees as the "new pandemic." Of course this isn't actually a direct result of COVID but rather how those in government chose to handle the COVID pandemic. Too many people would rather be paid by the government to stay at home than to get a job. I have to remind myself that worrying will not help in any way, but it's hard not to be concerned about skyrocketing inflation in the near future. We're trying to decide if we should trade in our 9 year old minivan sooner than planned in light of the prices possibly shooting up in the near future.  Hopefully we will never experience hyperinflation. 

I remember participating in many fire and tornado drills over the years when I was a student. They were not all drills. When we lived in Texas, there were several times we were in the hallway curled up on the floor because there actually was a tornado in the area. Once it actually damaged the school building, and there was an actual bomb threat when I was in high school (thankfully no bomb was actually found). When I was a principal, I had to call 911 once because there was an electrical fire in the computer lab. The staff and students *thought* it was a drill until the fire engines started showing up at the school. Since our kids are homeschooled, they have almost no experience when it comes to fire, tornado, bomb, or active shooter drills. This past Sunday we volunteered to participate in an emergency simulation. After the second service they provided bag lunches for those of us who volunteered to participate. Then after we ate they started a third worship service. About fifteen minutes into the simulated service, I had been asked to go out a specific door as if I was taking Oliver to the bathroom. They didn't tell me what kind of emergency I would encounter. I encountered a massive amount of white smoke. I ran back into the sanctuary and went straight to the worship pastor who was leading the singing at the moment. I told him that I had seen smoke and suspected there was a fire. He gave instructions as to how we were all to leave the building. From serving lunch to the debriefing the whole experience lasted almost two hours, which I wasn't anticipating when I signed us up, but I'm happy we were able to help the church tweak their emergency plans, and I think I handled the emergency appropriately even if Paul said he wished I had screamed my head off, ha ha!

Thankful Tuesday

1. I got a haircut on Thursday. It had been almost 8 months since I had gotten one. The hairdresser also trimmed my eyebrows (without asking?!?). Nadia doesn't like it when I get it cut, but when it's 90 degrees out, I greatly prefer having a shorter hairstyle. 

2. Thursday night Nadia, Tab, and I had a girl's night out. We saw a production of Emma. We knew some of the actors.

3. We've had two people come to our house to give us estimates on having solar panels installed on our roof, and we've also received two other estimates by email. We're looking forward to having them installed this fall and not paying any more electric bills.

4. Ian had his half birthday this past Saturday! I'm ever so grateful that the Lord brought Ian into our family. We love him oh so very much!! He enjoyed his bowling and dinner date with Paul on Saturday night.

5. The kids and I attended enjoyed our community group's picnic on Sunday evening at the home of someone who lives on a local golf course. 

6. Nadia and Ian enjoyed attending a water war event (included water balloons and a slip and slide) at FBC's youth group on Sunday evening. Ian has now attended the youth groups at two different churches this month.

7. On Saturday afternoon Nadia, Oliver, and I showed up at the pool only to find out they had closed five hours earlier than usual because of low attendance. Thankfully they gave us five passes for a free item of our choice from the concession stand in light of what happened. Paul and I haven't redeemed ours yet. On Monday Nadia and Oliver each got a soft pretzel and Ian picked peanut M&M's. 

8. The orthodontist took out Ian's expander yesterday. It was too difficult to keep an expander in his mouth when one of the teeth it was attached to was about to fall out. Today we returned to get his first retainer. The good news is that now we won't have to go to the orthodontist as frequently as we have lately. 

9. Our neighbor signed her two kids up for the same week of Camp Good News as I did, and we're

planning to carpool. Yahoo!!! The camp is 40 minutes from our house so I greatly appreciate being able to share the driving. I have to say I am looking forward to that week. I love my kids very, very much, but it will be nice to have five days were I can get more work done without interruption. 

10. I signed the kids up for co-op today. It took F O R E V E R. I was waiting in line for two full hours, and the whole experience took more than 2 hours. Since Nadia was already en route to Oklahoma, I had to bring the boys with me, but we had been asked not to bring our kids into the church building today. So they had to sit in the van. Thankfully it wasn't hot out today. I did leave at one point to get some lunch. The good news is that only one class was already filled by the time it was my turn to register. I switched Oliver from an art class to a music class (colored bells). Hopefully we will have a good experience this year with co-op.

11. I finally was able to sell Ian's old bike via FB. Someone came and picked it up on Monday evening. I gave him the $20.

12. I rearranged the order of our 24 day road trip in September. This was helpful for three reasons: #1 means we'll arrive in Chicago on a weekend (which is a good thing as I'm assuming their cousins will be attending school in person in the fall), #2 we'll arrive in Salt Lake City on a Friday which means the kids can spend a day at Snowbird (it's only open Friday-Sunday in September), and #3 we'll arrive in Oklahoma City on a Saturday which means the kids can go white water rafting, zip lining, etc with Riversport (it's only open on Saturdays and Sundays in September). I've made several other changes recently. I really wanted to visit a slot canyon but many of them are closed because they are on Navajo land which is still closed due to COVID. I found some near Zion/ Bryce that are open. So I eliminated Arches National Park, Wind Cave, and Yellowstone Bear World from our itinerary, but I've added Zion, Horseshoe Bend, Bryce Canyon, and a slot canyon tour. The new plan also means we're going a little farther out of our way to visit Mesa Verde, but I think it's worth it to spend a day there. I think we'll be driving around 7K miles on our big road trip. If we had more time to add to our trip, I'd definitely spend more time in Utah, but I'm very thankful Paul has agreed to a 24 day trip!

13. I got some books at very good prices at the homeschool co-op registration today! Some families were actually just giving books away for free. 

14. The boys and I picked a little over 7 pounds of strawberries today. Yum! I had strawberries on waffles for dinner tonight. Nadia loves strawberries so it was strange to do it without her, but the weather was cooler today so I thought it was a good day for picking strawberries. I assume she'll be with us when we pick blueberries and raspberries next month.

15. A plumber *finally* came and replaced the expansion tank for our hot water heater yesterday morning. This had been a problem for months. 

16. Life keeps getting closer and closer back to normal. Yay! Now if only far more National Parks would reopen....

17. We thought Nadia couldn't audition to be in Tuck Everlasting this fall because of our lengthy vacation in September, but the director said she could still be in the chorus! She's so excited!!!

11.5 Years Old

Today is Ian's half birthday. Sometimes I feel badly for him that his birthday is so close to Christmas, but I think it works to his advantage sometimes. Usually if the kids ask me to buy something for them I tell them to either save up the money so they can buy it for themselves or put it on a wish list for their birthday or Christmas. In Ian's case, this means sometimes he has to wait a L O N G time if he chooses the wish list option. If he asks me for a Lego set, he's going to have to buy it himself or wait, but there are other things I choose to buy for him even though it's not his birthday or any other holiday. For example, earlier this month he asked for a Mario piano book. Because I want to encourage him to play the piano more this summer, I purchased it. Similarly, he and Oliver had been playing tennis in our driveway on a regular basis so I bought them 3 new tennis balls and then purchased a portable tennis net that they could use in our driveway. Ian typically doesn't spend too much time outside so I was again in favor of buying something that would encourage him to spend more time outside and get more exercise. 

Since we started the tradition this year of the kids getting a date with a parent for their birthday and half-birthday, Ian has chosen to go bowling and having dinner at Texas Roadhouse tonight with Paul.

1. At the age of 11.5, Ian is entering middle school! He attended youth group for the first time a few days ago. He will be participating in the youth group at our church and also FBC along with Nadia, and he will be joining Bible Bowl in the fall. He observed one Bible Bowl meeting this past Wednesday afternoon. 

2. Ian still really enjoys playing the piano. I'm hoping we'll play more duets together this summer. Lately he's been working on learning how to play songs in his new Mario book and also playing other music on the electronic keyboard we recently inherited from Pop Pop and Grandma's house. I can't say I'm a fan of the Mario music, but typically I usually really enjoy listening to Ian play the piano.

3. Ian has a few different series of books that he really enjoys such as Magic Treehouse, Imagination Station, Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales, Paddington Bear, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Tumtum and Nutmeg, and Olga da Polga. Many of his favorite books feature animals as the main characters. Typically he reads fiction, but lately he's been reading the non-fiction book, Bulu: African Wonder Dog. 

4. He loves to draw with colored pencils, and many of his drawings feature characters from Mario. He definitely spends more time drawing than anyone in our family. 

5. Ian prefers to play on the Nintendo Switch rather than the Wii, iPad, or watch TV. Unlike his brother, he almost always earns and uses the maximum amount of screen time per day (1hr 40 minutes) which he usually uses in 20 minute increments. He has a hard time ending his turn with the timer goes off on the Echo dot.

6. Ian enjoys listening to music. Two of his favorite artists are Jordan Feliz and Parry Gripp. 

7. Ian still loves to give hugs and snuggle. I hope that never changes!!!

8. For most of his life he's been the first one up in our house, but over the last few months Ian has learned how to sleep in. He still doesn't sleep as long as Nadia, but he's not always the first one up. It varies whether he or Oliver get up first of the three kids. He likes being able to stay up until 9:30pm.

9. He's definitely a homebody who doesn't like our schedule to be very busy. His siblings are the opposite of him in both regards. Sometimes we have to give him nudges to try new things and to be independent. 

10. He spends a lot of time playing with Nadia. Two of his friends are Micah Schreck and Ean Shaffer. I'm hoping that he'll make more friends this year through the youth groups and Bible bowl. He also loves to play with his cousins, especially Joel and Nathan.

11. Buttercup is technically Ian's pet, but in reality all three guinea pigs are Nadia's. Ian does clean the guinea pig cage every other week, but that's the extent of his interaction with any of the guinea pigs. He takes Milo out two times a day, and Milo sleeps in his crate in Ian's bedroom every night. 

1/2 - Ian has had an expander in his mouth for the last four months. Welcome to the world of orthodontics, Ian. 

I can't believe I have two middle schoolers!!! It's been a delight to watch Ian grow over the last 11.5 years, and I look forward to seeing how he will grow in the coming months and years. Te amo mucho!